Seth Godin's post Nostalgia is a basic human emotion asserts that, like joy or greed, nostalgia is a basic human emotion that should be addressed in marketing. He believes this "emotion" has been overlooked, save for the efforts of a small few companies.
I tend to disagree that nostalgia has been wholly overlooked. Rather, in today's market, many companies are tapping into customers' nostalgia. Amidst a recession, customers long for a simpler, easier, and more profitable time. Many companies have been savvy enough to make use of--and sometimes exploit--this desire for simplicity, often tying it to the green movement. Even a choice of materials—glass over plastic, organic cotton over synthetic textiles—signals this sense of nostalgia.
Some examples of nostalgia being used in today's market: the desire for organic produce (as used by Whole Foods); a return to analog photography (Lomo); the resurgance of vintage and antique goods' popularity; the use of more "classic" or retro packaging, such as with both Coca Cola and Pepsi; and the return of old-style trends. Even the hand-drawn type aesthetic (as discussed in my recent post) signals a desire to return to a time before machines mass-produced goods with an impersonal look. It will be interesting to see how long this trend continues and how it will evolve.
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